Rashi and Nakshatra of a Name in Devanagari

Why Devanagari gives the exact answer

In English letters, one sound can be written several ways, and several sounds are written the same way. The letter T may stand for त or for ट, D for द or for ड, and N for न or for ण. These sounds sit in different naming syllables and so in different rashis. Devanagari tells them apart, which is why a name written in Devanagari gives one clear answer where the English spelling may give two.

This tool is built for names typed in Devanagari, which covers Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit and Nepali names. It reads the name akshara by akshara and shows you how, so you can check it was read as you meant. If you only have an English spelling, the rashi by name calculator takes English and Gujarati letters.

How the name is read

Each nakshatra has four padas, and each pada has one naming syllable, in a table known as the avakahada chakra: चू, चे, चो, ला for Ashwini, ली, लू, ले, लो for Bharani, and so on across the 27 nakshatras and 108 padas. The rashi follows from the pada, nine padas to a sign.

The calculator takes the first akshara of the name. An akshara is a consonant with the vowel it carries, or an independent vowel. Then:

• A plain consonant with a vowel sign is read as that syllable. प्रिया begins with प्रि, which is read as the consonant प with the vowel i.
• A joined letter (conjunct) is read by its first consonant and the vowel the whole joined letter carries. ज्ञान begins with ज्ञा and is read as जा. Some teachers read ज्ञ as ग्य and so would take गा, which is a difference between schools.
• The vowel ऋ and its sign ृ are read as i, so कृष्ण begins with की.
• A name that begins with a vowel is read by that vowel. अर्जुन begins with अ.
• The dot under a letter (nukta) is ignored, as the classical table does not use it, so क़ is read as क.
• The short and loan vowels such as ऑ, ऍ, ऎ and ऒ are read as the nearest classical vowel (ओ or ए).
• The dots and marks after a letter (bindu, chandrabindu, visarga) do not change the first sound.

If the name has more than one word, only the first word is used. If no classical syllable begins with that sound, the calculator says so and gives the first-letter chart widely used in Gujarat instead.

The letter pad

If your phone or computer has no Hindi keyboard, open the letter pad under the name box. It has the vowels, the consonants, the vowel signs, the halant that makes a half letter, and the marks. Tap the letters in order, the same way you would write the name. The signs come after the letter they belong to.

What the result shows

You get the rashi, nakshatra and pada, the first sound the calculator found, and the four naming syllables of that nakshatra with yours marked. A table lists the aksharas of the name with what each is made of, so that a typing slip, such as a vowel sign on the wrong letter, is easy to see.

Naam rashi and birth rashi

The naam rashi comes from the name. Your birth rashi, the sign the Moon was in when you were born, is usually different, and it is the one a chart reading, Sade Sati and marriage matching use. The naam rashi is traditionally used when choosing a name that suits a child’s birth nakshatra, and for matching when the birth details are not known. To find your birth rashi, use the Moon sign calculator. For a couple matched by names, see gun milan by names.

Families also differ on method. Many in Gujarat use a first-letter chart that mostly agrees with the nakshatra syllables but not always, so when the two disagree the calculator shows both, and says which is the classical method.

Frequently asked questions